Editorial May 2, 1908 Issue

SPIRITUALITY

Annie M. Knott

At the present time, as never before in human history, the need of spirituality is being felt and expressed, which is the more remarkable because the age is admitted to be intensely materialistic; but this really gives the reason for the need of the spiritual. In spite of all opinion to the contrary, man is a spiritual being, both primarily and ultimately, hence humanity can never be satisfied with the pursuit of materiality. As nature abhors a vacuum, so our need for God asserts itself most strongly when we try to be satisfied with the material. The most hopeful condition of a mortal is when he thirsts for God as does the hart for the water brooks, or to use the Master's words, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled."

Time was when the spiritual was regarded as a limited part of one's being, having little or no relation to our present activities, something existing in a sort of embryonic state and awaiting possible development on another plane of experience. Happily this mistaken sense is giving place in many directions to an awakening recognition of the vital importance of spirituality to all human development. Respecting this, a prominent educator says, "The spiritual side of our organism is so comprehensive, that if this door is shut all the other parts of our being are starved and stunted, if indeed they develop at all. ... I do affirm, that unless, as a nation, we learn to stop occasionally and give ourselves a chance to get into that state of mental calm and equilibrium which is so essential to true growth, we cannot expect to become really great in the sense of leaving a lasting imprint on the ages. For the duration of this imprint will inevitably, in the last instance, depend on the nature of our spiritual force as a nation." The great Teacher said, "What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul [his spiritual sense]?"

Christian Science does not teach that the spiritual is a part of man's being and that the rest of it is material. On the contrary, it teaches that God, Spirit, and His manifestation constitute the whole of being,—that the spiritual includes all the faculties, activities, and possibilities of man. On this basis alone can right ideals be held and permanent progress established. The belief that man is both material and spiritual is responsible for an unceasing conflict in individual experience so long as it is held, and also for the conflict between individuals and between nations. All thinkers, whether they accept Christian Science or not, unhesitatingly admit that evil springs from materiality, and that the remedy must come from the spiritual side. The difficulty is, however, that so many contend for a material side, and fail to see the divine possibilities which await humanity in the recognition of the allness of the spiritual. It is true that even after the Christian era many sincere followers of Christ Jesus believed the spiritual to be intangible and certainly not the source of all activity; this, too, in the face of his words, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work."

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